Portable Benches

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designer

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Joined
Jan 23, 2011
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380
Location
Washington, Michigan
I have been looking online and catalogs for a bench that is also portable (maybe with locking caster on one end) and will hold a 10 X 18 lathe and a bench top band saw. The casters I can get without a problem. It is the table or bench I am concerned about. I need to put wood on it and be able to hold both the lathe and band saw. Does anyone have any experience with the PSI bench? http://www.pennstateind.com/store/LVSTAND.html OR is there a better offering elsewhere?
 
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designer

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Joined
Jan 23, 2011
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380
Location
Washington, Michigan
LOL. DON'T take this wrong as it is a compliment. Leave it to the Navy to "just build it".

Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of tools to work with and my small apartment does not have the room for them either.....wallet cannot afford them either.

I am thinking of buying some angle iron and making one myself. I need to be able to move it outside through a sliding glass door (leaving the door intact if all goes well). Depth shouldn't be a problem, length with casters should be okay too. Center of gravity will have to be watched is all with the band saw mounted and the lathe weight.

A handle on one end to lift and pull it, locking casters on the other end. Wood to mount the lathe and saw.... So what am I missing besides nuts, bolts and washers?
 

ohiococonut

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Joined
May 8, 2011
Messages
397
Location
Warsaw, Ohio
I actually have that stand and it is very sturdy. Don't tighten any of the bolts until you have it configured the way you want.

Despite what some of the comments say about trying to stick a square bolt in a round hole, that first one you read is all that matters :biggrin:
 

Finatic

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Oct 9, 2010
Messages
760
Location
Southington, CT 06489
Black and Decker work mates make nice sturdy portable folding stands. At least the older ones do. I don't have any knowledge about the newer ones.
 

KenBrasier

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Joined
Nov 28, 2009
Messages
393
Location
Salem, MO
If you want something economical and sturdy...... I bought a couple of those tables with the white plast tops and fold up legs at WalMart. One holds my Jet 20VS, the other I take to craft shows with a HF mini lathe to do demos. They are 48" x 24", very sturdy and they were less than $40.
 

designer

Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2011
Messages
380
Location
Washington, Michigan
Well thank you all. I now have a lot of options for a portable bench. Yall gave me enough info to do some directed searching now. I am sure I will come up with something that will fit thru a 30" opening and is portable back and forth now. I appreciate all your help.
 
Joined
May 3, 2011
Messages
10
Location
Utah
I had the same problem recently. I ended up getting the HF stand mentioned above. The stand works well and is sturdy enough. The hardware it comes with is cheap and will break if you try to over tighten the carriage bolts. I put a 5/8" piece of MDF for the top with countersunk bolts and a 1/2" piece for the lower shelf. That really helped the stability. I tried putting casters on it but it was just too wobbly, even with the casters locked in place. At the moment I'm living with family so I store my lathe in a different place than I use it. So I'm hauling the stand and lathe outside each time to use it. I think I might try a mobile base next and see if that works any better.

^^ike
 
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